Star Trek 1261: The Fallen, Part Two

1261. The Fallen, Part Two

PUBLICATION: Star Trek: Early Voyages #11, Marvel Comics, December 1997

CREATORS: Ian Edginton and Dan Abnett (writers), Michael Collins and Greg Adams (artists)

STARDATE: Unknown (follows the last issue)

PLOT: As Starfleet throws everything it has into fighting the Chakuun in orbit, losing many ships in dastardly moves, Nurse Calotti comes across a wounded Chakuun on the planet surface. She tries to kill it, but can't bring herself to. Instead, she opens a dialog and makes the Chakuun understand human values (importance of life, etc.), while the Chakuun makes Carlotti understand the Tholians' fluid concept of territory (as stars move through space so do frontiers shift). In the end, the Chakuun is rescued by its people and her life is equally spared. With this new understanding, war is prevented and the Federation knows better than to establish colonies in the Tholians' path.

CONTINUITY: See previous issue (Tholians).

DIVERGENCES: None.

PANEL OF THE DAY - Picking your moments
REVIEW: Equal parts slam-bang action (with moves I don't think we've seen in Trek yet) and "Star Trek mission statement" (promoting understanding), The Fallen Part Two is a strong issue. Carlotti gets her turn to shine, and the Chakuun prove to be an interesting race, at once more and less alien than we might have thought. It all leads to a big Roddenberry moment at the end that acknowledges that we were in the wrong as well. Other characters obviously don't have as much to do, though they are each featured. The best bit is the one pictured above, not so much because of the Colt/José dating stuff, but because the writers have set Sita up as the resident teaser. A fun character, that one.

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